Container and cover therefor



0,1954 ,N. J. PLAKAS I CONTAINER AND COVER THEREFOR Fil ed Nov. 12, 1952,BLA CK), EXTRA. 9

SWEET; .REGULAR SEMI. .Ll Gl-IT .DARK

SLIGHT.

Patented Aug. 10, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CONTAINER AND COVER THEREFOR Nicholas J. Plakas, West Roxbury, Mass.

ApplicationNovember 12, 1952, Serial No. 319,979

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a cover and container made of paper,cardboard, paper board When cofiee, tea etc. is taken out-of restaurantsand other shops it is usual to mark the container .or cover with someindication of the contents as whether it has sugar, cream, or some suchother contents. However, this is time consuming, often results inunsanitary practises and frequently the inscription is illegible.

The present invention overcomes these difiiculties by providing acontainer having a cover which has mounted on the outside, one or morerotatable indicators which when turned will point to differentinscriptions on the cover which par ticularly indicate the exact natureof the contents. These indicators may be pivoted near the edge of thecover with one end extending upwards and frictionally engaging the sidewall of the container when the cover is in place on the container. Theprojecting end of the indicator when bent upward also serves as a tabfor removal of the cover. In this invention the pivoting means of theindicator may be provided by a hollow rivet which also serves as a venthole for the expansion of the hot liquid contents.

The cover may be printed with a great number of diiferentlegends towhich the indicators may be pointed to indicate the contents of thecontainer. These and other advantages of the present invention will bemore clearly indicated by a consideration of the invention inconjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of-the cover.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the cover and the container intowhich it has been posiand having its sidewall 3 at a slight angle to thebottom 2. However, containers of other shapes such as cylindrical, andcontainers with straightsided sections and covers fitting thereto mayalso i be used.

The cover 4, having a circular shape to correspond with a cross-sectionof the container, fits snugly down into the container a short distanceleaving a marginal area 5 between the top surrace 6 of the cover and theupper edge i of the container.

A pair of indicators '8 and 9 are rotatably attached to the cover nearits edge 6 by the hollow rivets I l and 12 respectively, which extendthrough the cover and which in addition to retatably holding theindicators to the cover, also permits free-passage of air to and fromthe closed container. By providing hollow rivets in this manner,expanding air under the cover due to 'hot liquid contents will not causethe cover to pop off, nor are the rivet holes large enough to permit theliquid contents to splash out through the'holes. "Though it ispreferable that two indicators positioned near the edge diametricallyopposite each other be used, one or more or such indicators are alsosuitable. On the top of the cover are imprinted the various legends 59from which the exact nature of the contents of the container may beindicated by suitably turning the indicators 8 and 9 so that the ends I!and it respectively of the indicators point to the desired legend asillustrated in Figure 1. When the cover is inserted down into thecontainer as illustrated in Figure 2, the ends l3 and It respectively ofthe indicators 8 and 9 are bent upwardly against the marginal area 5 ofthe sidewall 3 at points [5 and I6, and are frictionally held thereuntil the cover is removed. The frictional contact of the ends l5 and itof the indicators 8 and 9 re,-

spectively with the sidewall 3 will firmly keep the indicator pointingto the selected legend while the cover is on the container. If desired acrease 20 and 2| across the indicators 8 and 9 respectively may beprovided to facilitate the bending of the end of the indicator againstthe sidewall margin 5. Where the container has straight sides the endsl3 and M will also be in contact with the sidewalls of the container.

It should be noted that when the cover is posi tioned. in the containerthe ends i 3 and M of the indicators project beyond the upper edge I ofthe container so that they may be readily used as tabs to help removethe cover from the container.

Before these covers are placed in the container they may be packedcompactly one on top of the other since the indicators 8 and 9 are heldflat against the cover 6.

Having now described my invention I claim:

1. In a cover for a container of the type described a cover elementhaving characters imprinted on the top surface thereof for indicatingthe contents of the container, an indicator element adapted to bepointed to any of said characters, and hollow rivet means rotatablyfixing said indicator element to the cover element, said hollow rivetmeans passing through said indicator element and through said coverelement.

2. In combination with a container of the type described having asidewall, a cover element having characters imprinted on the top surfacethereof. for indicating the contents of the container, said coverelement adapted to fit down into the said container below the top edgeof said sidewall, at least one indicator element adapted to be pointedto said characters, and means rotatably fixing each indicator to the topof said 4 tainer, said cover element adapted to fit down into the saidcontainer below the top edge of said sidewall, at least one indicatorelement having one end shaped to be selectively pointed to saidcharacters and the other end normally bent upwardly and extending abovethe top edge of the sidewall element and having one part frictionallycontacting said sidewall element.

5. Incombination with a container of the type described having a sidewall, a cover element having characters imprinted in the center of thetop surface thereof for indicating the contents of the container, saidcover element adapted to fit cover element near the edge of the coverelement,

the end of said indicator element adapted to be bent upwards to makecontact with the sidewall.

3. In combination with a container of the type described having asidewall, a cover element having characters imprinted on the top surfacetherea.

of for indicating the contents of the container, said cover elementadapted to fit down into the said container below the top edge of saidsidewall, at least one indicator element having one end shaped to beselectively pointed to said characters and the other end normallyprojecting beyond the cover element, and frictionally contacting saidsidewall members, and means rotatably fixing each indicator to the topof said cover element near the edge of the cover element.

4. In combination with a container of the type described having asidewall, a cover element having characters imprinted on the top surfacethereof for indicating the contents of the condown into said containerbelow the top edge of said side wall, a pair of indicator elementsadapted to be pointed to said characters, each of said indicatorspositioned near the edge of the cover diametrically opposite oneanother, and means rotatably fixing said indicators to the top of saidcover element, the end of said indicator elements normally bent upwardsand projecting beyond the top edge of the cover and having one partfrictionally contacting said side wall element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 545,481 Fullerton Sept. 3, 1895 1,903,266 Koch Mar. 28, 19332,375,266 Wilson May 8, 1945 2,587,147 Guion Feb. 26, 1952

